Cavs Talk to Jackson

The plan is to hire a GM before a coach, but that could change.

Back from Purdue

Read this.

Be outraged.

Simpsons

A nice article on CNN about the Simpsons reaching episode 350. I still love the show, though I understand how some people think it's slipped. And though it's not as good as it once was, it's still one of the best shows on TV and I think it's had a very good year this season.

The best quote from the article:

Creator Matt Groening is also upbeat. "I think the show has almost reached its halfway point, which means another 17 years."

The First Episode III Review goes to...

Kevin Smith. And (whew!) he liked it:

"Revenge of the Sith" is, quite simply, fucking awesome. This is the "Star Wars"
prequel the haters have been bitching for since "Menace" came out, and if they
don't cop to that when they finally see it, they're lying."

Tribe

Well, they got killed last night, but they recently signed CC to a long term deal (through 08 or so). It's nice change of pace that a Cleveland owner not named Dan Gilbert is getting columns written about him.

People have been worried that the Dolans won't pay for some guys when the time is right. They say they will. They say they need attendence up so they can afford more players, fans say they want better players before selling out games. This is a nice start, but a big free agent splash the next offseason would really let the fans stop worrying about the Dolans.

Ethics

All five Republicans on the House ethics committee have financial links to Tom DeLay that could raise conflict-of-interest issues should the panel investigate the GOP majority leader.

Gee, you think this might be a conflict of interest? The fact that Republicans might have problems investigating a Republican leader is conflict enough, but financial links as well? Classy.

But it doesn't matter, most people don't even realize that the Republicans control the House and Senate as well as the Presidency. They see Congress screw up or not get things done, and its those Washington Democrats, not our down to earth Republicans...

George Tenet regrets 'Slam Dunk' coment

well no shit.

I love these stories, when someone said/did something stupid in their past and now has to live with it. A few years ago Tracy McGrady's Orlando Magic were up 3-1 on the Detroit Pistons and McGrady said he was just happy to be out of the first round. The Pistons won the series 4-3, now McGrady regrets the coment. "The coment I said that made me look like a complete ass and everyone made fun of me? Yea, I guess I regret that." Der.

Learn your NBA playoff slang

This article is kind of cute, but I enjoyed this one:

Nocioni An Italian term that has no direct translation in English but roughly equates to the colloquial phrase, "What the #&$@?!" As in, "Bush won Ohio?! ... Nocioni?!"
(Andres Nocioni, Chicago Bulls)

Toothpick no more

Toohpick, the guy who played at our party (and we're trying to get him to play at the one in May) will no longer be known as Toothpick but as his real name, Doug Ray. From his myspace site:

Im back. Toothpick is a real side of me but i will now be performing as Doug Ray, my name. A new record is on the way. Big things happening. Stay tuned.

Top 5 Worst Teams to Root For

Number 2?

The Cleveland Browns?

Really? The Browns? The list has the Clippers, Hawks, Devil Rays, Browns and the White Sox at number 1. So out of all the teams in football, the Browns are the worst to root for? Arizona is okay? The Bears?

And how about the NBA? I can understand the Clips and Hawks, but no Raptors? Blazers? I mean the Blazers give their fans the finger every offseason by drafting a head case and giving a huge contract to another malcontent.

As for baseball, I'd have the Rays, Jays, Pirates and Royals above the Sox. Though I understand the White Sox plite, they lose just as much as the Red Sox (until 04) and the Cubs, but are overshadowed by another team in their city, or another team with the word Sox in their name.

Where's Michael?

I went to a Cavs-Blazers game years ago when Pippen first played there. He had just recently left the Bulls and it was a really good game (Shawn Kemp played particularly well). But as always, the Gund wasn't too loud, so everytime Pippen touched the ball this drunk guy would yell: "Hey Scottie! Where's Michael? Who ya gonna pass to? Where's Michael, Scottie?!"

Today on SI.com, Marty Burns asks the same question. Where's Michael?

Gilbert

We're getting more and more Dan Gilbert stories recently, with two columns in Cleveland papers today. Both give advice to Gilbert and urge patience for Cavs fans.

One is by Bill Livingston who basically just says give Dan a chance:

The national media have created a myth that the ouster of Silas caused the Cavs' downfall. They won three of Silas' last 12 games.

Another one is by Terry Pluto:

The new coach will be the sixth in the past eight years. Ever wonder why the Cavaliers seem stuck?

Star Wars TV

So Lucas says he wants to have a live action Star Wars TV show...

I hope he does it like the West Wing or Sopranos; letter box style, very high quality. But hey, could be fun.

Gilbert Calls out Stephen A Smith

From an interview with the Plain Dealers Bud Shaw (hilarious):

Q: Is it true that you passed notes to Silas during a game asking him to play certain players? Why have rumors persisted about you as a meddlesome owner?

A: Obviously, that is completely false. Can you imagine an owner doing that? It is so absurd, you have to laugh at it. Then again, the "ESPN Entertainer" who said it is the same guy who made up the story about "Jim Paxson being fired within 48 hours" when it was completely untrue and never even discussed here at all. He is also the same guy who made up stories about "LeBron's mother not liking the new ownership team." This guy, lets call him "John A. Doe" is an entertainer, not a journalist. Most people who know basketball realize what a phony this guy is and how he primarily blurts out fantasy on a daily basis.

Although, Gilbert says he never passed notes to Silas about playing players, he does say this:

The team was in bad spirits. They had lost their confidence. Paul was not flexible to changing anything. He would almost never play the promising young guys. His bench was being outscored 20 to 30 points a game. Players were afraid to make suggestions to him. In addition, he did not discipline a player who was disrupting the entire chemistry of the team.

So Silas wasn't open to players making suggestions and Silas would never play the young guys. But Gilbert never suggested to play the young guys....

I agree with the Silas firing and I do think Gilbert suggested some things to Silas. Do I think it was overly meddlesome? No, but I also think Gilbert learned his lesson- he won't be suggesting things to the next coach.

Stupid Liberal Media

Ah, Bush's UN nominee. Americablog explains it better than I can, but John Bolton sucks. Oh, and the media is soooooo liberal.

Draft

Overall, I'm very pleased with Cleveland's draft. I've been calling for Charlie Frye for months now, and I was hoping they would pick him in the 2nd round. I didn't think he'd last to the third. Well, I was wrong, but it worked out nicely. And I'm not the only one who thinks so.

McInnis

Team Player

Though my favorite quote from the article is this:

Drew Gooden stopped to claim all the Cavaliers pieces were in place. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Football Factories

Stewart Manel has a nice column on colleges put out the most NFL ready players. The top is Miami (which I'm not surprised) followed by USC, Florida State, OSU and Tennessee. I agree with the list for the most part, but I could put OSU up there. And Tennessee surprised me, I would've though Michigan would be in the top 5.

Basketball

Simmons has a nice playoff preview, though I think it's a wishful.

He's got the Celtics getting to the 2nd round (I wouldn't want to have to play the Pacers) and he's got the Suns winning it all. Now, don't get me wrong, I would LOVE the Suns to win it, but I think Miami, Detroit or San Antonio has a better shot.

I got San Antonio and Phoenix in the West finals with SA advancing and I got Miami beating Detroit in the East finals. With San Antonio beating Miami in 6.

Also, UNC is fucked.

Cavs Offseason Day 1

Fire Paxson? Check

Fire Malones? Check

Well, surprise surprise, both Paxon and Malone won't be back next year. Paxson was an okay GM, he had some good drafts, like Boozer, Andre Miller and LeBron (but that was a no brainer). He also had some really shitty drafts, like Trajdon Langdon, Segana Diop (which was really coach John Lucas's pick). And he has some incomplete drafts, like Dajuan Wagner and Luke Jackson, who've been hurt their entire careers.

But I think it's some of the other moves he made that really got him fired, they've used three first round picks on basically the same player in Luke Jackson (drafted 1st round 2004), Sasha Pavlovic (traded 1st round 2005) and Jiri Welsch (traded 1st round 07). Terrific.

Also some of the signings the Cavs made are baffling. 2 offseasons ago they signed Kevin Ollie to a 5 year 15 million dollar contract, the Denver Nuggets gave the same deal to (Clevelander and former Cavalier) Earl Boykins (who the Cavs looked at too). Oops, wrong choice there. The Boozer fiasco will be layed at his feet, but that was really Gordan Gund's move. He recovered nicely, picking up Gooden and Varejao, but it wasn't enough. Actually the best bench signing this year was by Paul Silas in Tractor Traylor (who I really hope we re-sign).

This is the first of two make or break offseasons for the Cavaliers, I'm very interested in seeing how they do.

One more game

So the Cavs season comes down to tonight, they need a win in Toronto and the Nets need to lose vs the team the Cavs beat last night.

Right now it doesn't look good for the Cavs, but at least they won last night.

Terry Pluto talks about how the Cavs need to make the playoffs just to experience it, how it's better to get swept by Miami in four games than it is to watch them sweep the Nets.

The game is different in the postseason for the simple fact that back-to-back games are rare, meaning teams are usually rested, and no one simply takes the night off. Furthermore, playing the same team over and over and over means defenses are tougher, scoring is harder, and the premium is on mental toughness, along with physical strength.

James and the rest might think the last month of games has been grueling, but that's just the warmups to the playoffs. And that's a lesson the Cavaliers need to learn.

Browns Draft

Peter King has the Browns taking Edwards with the 3 pick, as does Don Banks.

ESPN the Magazine (no link) had the Browns taking whichever quarterback San Fran. doesn't.

I'm going to go on record now and say the Browns will take Edwards. Though if they trade down, I would not be surprised.

Would the Raptors role over tomorrow?

A funny, albiet unlikely scenario brought up by Bill Simmons.

There's a decent chance that the Raptors-Cavs game Wednesday night could
determine whether Vince and the Nets make the playoffs. Wouldn't it be funny if
the Raps totally rolled over and lost by some crazy score, like 123-40, just to
prove a point?)

Simmons has been bashing Vince Carter recently (as he should- Vince dogged it in Toronto and suddenly plays like a superstar in Jersey), and continues to bash him in Tuesday's blog entry:

Anyway, Vince Carter is going to get away with this. I can't believe I'm the
only person with a visible sports column who keeps bringing this up – the way
sports works now, we have all these "Who am I going to rip today?" writers out
there who jump at the chance to rip anyone and anything. Well, why not Vince
Carter? Who screwed over a larger group of fans more egregiously than he did?
Where's the outrage about this? The guy had 81 freaking points in two games last
weekend and the prevailing attitude seems to be, "Wow, it's great to have Vince
back!" I'm confused.

Scoop on the Cavs

Scoop Jackson has two articles on the Cavaliers today on ESPN.com. One is just a simple interview with the Cavaliers new owner, Dan Gilbert and another is Scoops assement of the Cavaliers current situation.

The interview is pretty interesting, it's the first time I've really seen anything publicly from Gilbert:

How long before we're laughing about this situation: one month after you get past Miami in the first round, one year after you all play in the 2006 NBA Finals, or never?

Gilbert: Look, I fully understand why some of these questions are being asked. What I don't understand are the inaccuracies, lies, distortions and embellishments of some grown men and women. I can't give you the exact timing of when we look back at the conclusion of the previous era with a smile and a that-was-not-a-fun-start conversation.

I can tell you that there is nothing that is going to get in the way of our desire and motivation to bring a team and organization that Cleveland and the entire state of Ohio can be proud of calling their own.

Stay tuned. We have not even started our ownership era yet. I am looking forward to getting it all going this summer.

Gilbert mentions throughout the article that his tenure as a owner hasn't really started yet. And I agree. But he also fired the coach. A few weeks after he took over. During the playoff chase. Before his 'tenure even started.'

Look, I'm not worried about LeBron leaving or forcing a trade. And I'm not too worried about Gilbert as an owner, it just started off on a sour note. But I think he can do a good job here, if he spends the money.

I think Jackson makes some very good points in the other article, the finest being this:

But perception is not reality. Reality is. And the reality is that Dan Gilbert has made only one move since coming in as owner of the Cavs. And judged against the number of coaching changes in the NBA this season alone, he's done nothing different than half the owners in the League have done.

Saw this on a MyDD message board

Christianity
All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.
Matthew 7:1

Confucianism
Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment against you, either in the family or in the state.
Analects 12:2

Buddhism
Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.
Udana-Varga 5,1

Hinduism
This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you.
Mahabharata 5,1517

Islam
No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.
Sunnah

Judaism
What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.
Talmud, Shabbat 3id

Taoism
Regard your neighbor's gain as your gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss.
Tai Shang Kan Yin P'ien

Zoroastrianism
That nature alone is good which refrains from doing another whatsoever is not good for itself.
Dadisten-I-dinik, 94,5

Bill and Ted
Be excellent to each other

Larry Brown

This is the first media member I've seen take Larry Brown to task, and I think Livingston goes over the top a little bit, but all in all, an intersting piece.

James and Jordan

With all the talk of LeBron demanding a trade and the Cavs recent swoon Brian Windhorst and Terry Pluto bring in some perspective.

Jordans Bulls didn't make the playoffs until his third season. They didn't have a winning record until his fourth. So what James is going through isn't that much of a surprise. And James can't leave for another 3 seasons, so the team the Cavs have then and the team they have now will probably look very different.

Also, for the last time, which 'Big Market' team is he going to 'demand to be traded to.' If James is all about winning, and I think he is, which team is he heading to? The Knicks are terrible and have no money. The Lakers are terrible and have no money. Chicago already has a good team, but they're going to need to sign all of their young guys in a few years (and this summer with Curry and Chandler). So where is he going? What attractive big market team is out there, I really want to know.

Busy Friday

Sorry no updates, but hey, at least the Cavs are blowing their chances at the playoffs. From what I can tell, the Wizards we're 10-13 from the floor in the final period. That's lock down defense.....

From what I saw, the whole team played shitty defense and everyone contributed to the shitty jumpshots. James included. True, he played the best game out there, but he didn't seem to play the defense that you need for the playoffs. Oh, Eric Snow got screwed on a few defensive calls down the stretch. Just terrible calls.

Kobe, Stephon Should Get Out

or at least that's what SI.com's Chris Mannix says.
For Kobe:

Force a trade, Kobe. Walk into Jerry Buss' office (I would say walk into Mitch
Kupchak's office, but do you two even talk any more?) and tell him it's not
working out. Cut bait. Go to Seattle, maybe in a sign and trade for Ray Allen
and a combination of Nick Collison or Vladimir Radmanovic. Go to New Orleans and
play for your old buddy Byron Scott; maybe he can entice the Lakers with a
package of Jamaal Magliore and a few No. 1 picks. You think your
teammates are the problem? You're like the ringleader of a really bad circus.
Isn't this roster almost exactly the same as the one Dwyane Wade carried to the
second round of the playoffs? Anyone think Wade couldn't do it again?

For Starbury:

Find a way out, Stephon. Find your way back to Minnesota, where you enjoyed the
best seasons of your career, and take your rightful place beside Kevin Garnett.
Can you imagine what might have been had you never left? You probably wouldn't
be wanting for any jewelry for your ring fingers. Go to Isiah. Help him make his
team better. You think Latrell Sprewell wouldn't appreciate a return to the
Knicks? Package Spree (via sign and trade) with enigmatic center Michael
Olowokandi, throw in Minnesota's first lottery pick in almost a decade and you
might have yourself a deal. Meanwhile, Jamal Crawford can assume your point
position in New York.

Mannix admits that because of both of their contracts, it's highly unlikely that either player goes anywhere. I think a big problem the NBA has is that everyone wants a max contract, and players feel they need that to justify their star status.

But guys like Marbury and Richard Jefferson (and Antoine Walker and Raef LaFrenz etc.) shouldn't recieve the same max contracts that Kobe and Tim Duncan get. Teams offer the max to players like these because they need those players to be competative, but it ends up hurting their team, beacuse now you're paying a very good player like a great player and you don't have enough money to pay for the supporting cast that you need.

In my opinion, only a handful of guys should earn the max for what they bring to their team.

The list, in no particular order:
Shaq
Yao (he's putting up better and better numbers, plus his box office draw more than makes pays for the contract)
LeBron
Kobe
Jason Kidd
Tim Duncan
McGrady
AI
Dirk
KG

My second tier is the group of all-stars who should get paid handsonly, but not at the same pay scale that the top guys get. These guys are good-great players, but they aren't the top guys.

The Second Tier includes:
Steve Francis
Marbury
Steve Nash
Dwayne Wade
Amare Stoudimire
Carmelo Anthony (the last three could move up by the time their rookie contract is over)
Walker
Paul Pierce
Rasheed Wallace
Z
Ben Wallace
Chris Webber
Mike Bibby
Peja
Jermaine O'neal
Vince Carter
Richard Jefferson
Elton Brand
Ron Artest

The article also has a real nice post on the NBA Age Limit story:

Look at the numbers. O'Neal never averaged better than 4.5 points per game his
first two years in Portland; Tracy McGrady, slightly more productive, peaked at
9.3.
Would either of their games have suffered as a result of being forced
to play for Duke or Michigan instead of sitting on the bench in Portland or
Toronto? What's the downside? An 18-year-old kid gets to play on a national
stage while at the same time getting two years' worth of education while
developing tangible social skills at some of the finest universities in the
land. Am I missing something?

Hit the Target

ESPN's Page2 has a nice letter to Dubya about first pitches. But I wonder if the author is liberal or conservative?

Gas prices are up. Approval ratings are down. As a lame duck officeholder,
perhaps you're blasé. But if you care about juicing your executive mojo – and
trust us, your goofy Social Security initiative could use the extra help –
there's one simple thing you can do.
Put it over the plate.
Think back to last year's election. Ohio, the Swift Boat malcontents, that creepy jacket protrusion you sported at the debates – none of that carried the day. You won on moral values. The moral value of throwing an honest, upright strike, as opposed to some namby-pamby girlie-toss that lands justa bit outside.

Besides this little blurb (which probably only I found amusing) the article does provide a nice background on the whole 'fist

Whitlock

Finally, someone who gets it:

It's not uncommon for the prep-turned-pro to sit on the bench for three years maturing mentally and physically. He can't help. He's stealing the roster spot and paycheck of a veteran who might be able to help a team win. Given the makeup of the NBA, that veteran player is more than likely going to be the same color as Jermaine O'Neal.

and:

Now, is O'Neal right that it's hypocritical for the public to be outraged by high school basketball players' turning pro when baseball players have done it for years?

Yes, O'Neal is right. The public outcry is hypocritical, and perhaps driven by a bigoted double-standard. But that is not what is driving Stern and the union to do the right thing. Improving the product and enhancing the marketability of the product is the best protection NBA players have against a fan base that is prone toward hypocrisy and developing nagging double standards.

Ah, common sense... that's the stuff

D'oh

Maybe this is why our intelligence isn't doing too well.

Browns Draft

In his most recent column, Terry Pluto says that the Browns cannot/should not draft a quarterback with the number 3 pick.

I totally agree.

I also hope they don't draft a running back at 3 either. We just traded for Ruben Droughns, we have Lee Suggs and we're still trying to trade William Greene. I don't mind a Droughns and Suggs RB combo this year, and I'm kind of put off by drafting an RB that high in a draft.

I also agree with Pluto that the Browns should trade down, but that's easier said than done. And if the Browns DO trade down, it won't be until after Miami picks, so we have a while before we know if the Browns trade the pick.

These People Scare Me

Creepy

Ipod One

So Bushes Ipod playlist got releasd to the public for some stupid reason and people are picking through it with a fine toothed comb.

Aparently he has a lot of music from artists who campainged against him and he has other songs that wouldn't fit so well in the conservative movement. You know what? Who gives a shit.

In case no one remembers, a lot of that artists that were against Bush kicked major ass. So I can't blame him for having some U2 or Fogerty on the list, I mean, it is 10,000 songs or so. And I guess there's some songs about alcohol, whoopidy shit. Again, so he's a recovering alcoholic, a lot of rock songs deal with alcohol (and sex and drugs).

Although, it was kind of interesting that his selection isn't too diverse. From the London Times:

Caitlin Moran noted: "No black artists, no gay artists, no world music, only one
woman, no genre less than 25 years old, and no Beatles."

Well, easy joke here, Bush is republican, are we really suprised his playlist has only one woman and noblack or gay artists? And what? No Beatles?!?! I disliked Bush before, but no John, Paul, George or Ringo? Now the man has got to leave office!

Though, honestly, I'm not surprised Bush doesn't have any Beatles (or their solo stuff). A group whose members sang songs like All You Need is Love, Give Peace a Chance, and We Can Work it Out? Go figure.

NBA Age Limit Racist?

So Jermaine O'neal thinks an NBA age limit is racist? He points out that baseball and hockey draft kids right out of high school, and those kids are mostly white (well, I'll give him hockey).

O'neal should have some say in the matter, he came out of high school in 96 (and was drafted by Portland). But he didn't play meaningful minutes until 4 years later when he was traded to Indiana. So of course he's all about high school kids going pro, he did it, sat on the bench for four year, made a shit load of money, and then finally started to produce for a team that didn't draft him.

And as for racism, Reggie Miller (O'neal's teammate) was on the Daily Show talking about how he thinks the age limit would be a good idea for the league. So I don't think the NBA having an age limit is a race thing, I think it's a good basketball thing. And the NBA is a basketball league, so if an age limit makes for better basketball, then the NBA should have a right to do it. O'neal couldn't play for four years anyway, it's basically the Pacers drafted him out of four years at college (that the Blazers paid for).

And as for Jermaine's 'unconstintuional' quote, if we get to make fun of actors who bitch about world events, then atheletes who never stepped foot on a college campus should get the same deal. O'neal seems to be a nice guy, but I don't think he has any idea what he's talking about.

Sure you can be drafted for the army at 18 but you can't play in the NFL (or possibly the NBA). The leagues are a private business, and if they think having an age limit will improve their product, and if the players union agrees to it, I think it's a good thing. And I don't think it's unconstitutional.

Oh, and part of the reason why baseball and hockey don't get the crap that the NBA does is because they have a minor league system that doesn't suck ass (sorry NBDL). These kids who are drafted get a chance to mature and grow and THEN make the majors. They get game experience (usually out of the view of the parents team city) so we don't see these millioanaire high school kids sitting on the bench not producing.

I'm baaaack

Sorry about the lack of updates, but I've been pretty busy the past weekend (Jazz show) and I was gone all day Monday in Cinci.

But the Cavs won two in a row. I think they'll make the playoffs and I actually think they could make it as a 7 seed. Now do I see them beating Detroit? No, but I doubt the series will go only 4 games.

McInnis has played well the past couple games and it's about time. Players (LeBron) have complained about the recent benching of McInnis without explanation. Well, McInnis has been playing selfishly and he hasn't been playing defense. Point guards were killing us and McInnis has been obsessed with himself and his stats (and he's aparently not to happy when it's reported that he's selfish). Do I think Eric Snow is necessarily the answer? No, but I'd rather have his crappy offense and his good defense than McInnis's so-so offense and really shitty defense.

Gooden has been playing very well recently also, and I may be changing my tune on him. But I feel once I do, he's going to have a couple shitty games in a row. When Gooden is aggressive, he scores at will and the Cavs usually win (or are at least competative). On Monday LeBron and Gooden hooked up for 14 pick and rolls in the first half alone (and they scored on 11 of them). The problem with Gooden is that sometimes he falls in love with his (crappy) jumper and he loses his focus. But he's also been traded twice and has had 6 coaches in 3 years in the league, so maybe if he gets some stability (the whole god damned team needs it!) he'll show up 82 games a year, instead of just 41. And hey, at least he isn't dead.

Concert and Music updates

The Toothpick (it's really a Ordinary Peoples show) this Friday at Little Brother's is $8 or $15 for entry and OP's new CD.

The Jazz Fest this weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) is $4 for OSU students.

Look for reviews of the new albums by Reel Big Fish and Ben Lee sometime soon.

Follow up on Cavs Ideas

RecentlyI posted my email to the Cavs about their great ideas from fans and here's their response:

Ben,

Thank you for your great idea! All of our entertainment groups work very hard to entertain people of all ages. While we recognize that their style, costuming and performances are not for everyone, we do receive tremendous fan feedback about our on-court entertainers.

We love to hear that you enjoyed this season's 35th Anniversary events. There has been talk about retiring World B. Free's number and it is still a consideration for next year. in addition, there has been a tremendous amount of discussion regarding changing the color of the arena seats. Stay tuned next year to find out! We appreciate the time you put into telling us how we can make your experience at the Gund Arena better.

Thanks again and GO CAVS!

I can tell they really like their dancers and Moondog, but honestly, the Cavs dance team is aimed at people my age, right? I mean, they aren't going for kids or families, their going for young males. And most guys I've gone to games with are kind of intrigued with the Cavs girls, but we're much more concerned with the BASKETBALL GAME we paid an arm and a leg to go to. But hey, a personal response, it was definitely more than I expected.

Gund, Silas and now Paxson?

ESPN is reporting that Jim Paxson will be fired soon (as in within the next 48 hours).

Really, I'm not too upset at the firing, we all knew he was going to be gone after the season anyway. Owner Dan Gilbert can just get a head start on GM (and coach) canidates for next year.

I don't think that this could really affect the playoff push much, the team has good and bad days, and Paxson isn't going to have much affect if he stays. I'm pretty sure the Cavs don't have a draft pick this draft. And I'm sure we don't have a first round pick this or next year, because of the Sasha Pavlovic and Jiri Welsch trades. So I guess the Paxson firing is justified. No first round picks the next two years? For Sasha and Jiri? Sweet.

In his defense, Paxson did get rid of Shawn Kemp, Bob Sura, Lamond Murray and to a certain extent Kevin Ollie and their contracts. And we will be under the cap this summer. One rumor I heard was the Cavs offering Phil Jackson the GM and coaching jobs. I'm not sure how I feel about this, I mean, if we could get Jackson, it'd be sweet, but has he ever been a GM before?

Other rumors I hear (mentioned in the link above) are ESPNs Greg Anthony getting the Cavs job. I do not aprove of this, if the Cavs (and Gilbert) want to keep LeBron after his rookie contract is up, I would suggest getting a GM with experience. Not a first timer who looks good on TV.

Also, another coaches name has been mentioned for the Cavs job. Tom Izzo. This is another move I hate. The Cavs (and LeBron) need a coach who's won before (at least NBA playoff games, if not the finals). Izzo is a great coach, and he might be a good pro coach. But especially after the Browns failure with Butch Davis, I don't Cleveland will be the right place for a rookie NBA coach to get his feet wet.

Another rumor I heard from (from my roommate Ben Warburton, and I'm not sure where he picked it up, it could be from either ESPN's Stephan A. Smith or his own ass) was that the Cavs are going after the assistant GM to the Heat and he will try to get current Heat GM Pat Riley to return to coaching with the Cavaliers. I would pursue this, Riles is awesome, and I think he would be a great fit with this team.

To me, LeBron is most like Magic Johnson, only much more athletic. Riley would be a great coach for him. But who knows how true this is and how interested Riley is in coaching again. Personally, I would be extremely surprised if Riley doesn't coach again.

Letter to the Cavs

This is my email to the Cavs, they have a 'fan suggestions' email set up, I recomend dropping one by youself. greatideas@cavs.com

Hello, my name is Ben Cox and I've been coming toCavaliers games since
1991. I'm 22 years old, andI've been a Cavs fan my whole life, I went to
games(not many since I'm in college) the year before the Cavs got LeBron (one of
their 17 wins vs theWarriors).

I love going to games, and I've never had a bad experience at a Cavaliers event. That being said,since we drafted LeBron there seems to be a focused effort to 'slick up' the games at Gund Arena. Sexier cheerleaders (and outfits) a new mascot, new breakdancers and louder music. Some people may like thesethings, but I (and my friends and family) do not. They feel fake to us, like the organization is tryingtoo hard to be cool. People don't go to Cavs gamesfor the cheerleaders or dance teams. They don't go togames to see Moondog or hear extremely loud music. We go to watch good basketball. When was the last time you heard someone wax nostalgic about the Bulls cheerleaders of the 90s? Or the Spurs mascot. These things can be nice, but focus more on Clevelands fan base and history.

One thing I do like is the recent focus on the teams history. Show more Price, Daugherty and Nancefootage. Retire World B. Free's number (21). People go to see good basketball, and that's what you should be promoting and trying to sell. Moondog bugs me to no end, he doesn't make sense to any of us (of course the Indians have Slider as their mascot and he makeseven less sense). Have a pirate or something, aCavalier, we have the sword and stuff in the logo, but a dog as a mascot. It doesn't add up.

Also, I hear the new owner is changing many things about Gund Arena (including the name) with flatscreenTV in the locker rooms and stuff. If I could make a suggestion it'd be this: Change the seat colors. Withthe new uniforms it doesn't make sense, and ittranslates extremely poor on TV (where I see most of my games while in Columbus at OSU).

And whatever you do, keep Joe Tait working the games and Jeff Phelps on FSN. Thank you for reading my email.

Ben Cox

Music History

The Ohio State University

cox.405@osu.edu

benjamincox.blogspot.com

614-403-1836

Personal Notes

This Friday Toothpick is opening for Ordinary Peoples at Little Brothers, I'm not sure on the price, but I can't imagine it being more than 10 bucks. Pick always puts on a good show, and I've heard good things about Ordinary Peoples.

The next day, Saturday, the Jazz Lab (and myself) are playing at the OSU Jazz Festival. The Festival is all weekend and should be seen all days, but if you wanna see Ben Cox's in action, come by on Saturday (note: this won't be our only performance this year, we will of course have the classic Mirror Lake concert again later on).

Also, Reel Big Fish has a new album out today, but 2 CD stores were sold of it. (2 more never even ordered it, so who knows what that says about the band, their CD 'sells out', but only half the stores in Cbus order it). I plan on picking it up tomorrow and having a review shortly thereafter.

Oops, sorry, missed Monday

The Tribe lost 1-0. Westbrook pitched a 4 hitter and lost. Burle pitched a 2 hitter. He always kills us. I'm not too concerned, the pitching looked good, and the hitting I believe will come around.

Juan Gone is already hurt, but I guess they'll give him one more shot this season, once he returns. They already have him paid for the year no matter what, so they might as well see how he does once he returns.

In happier news, the Tribe locked up Victor Martinez, possibly through 2010. It's roughly a 15 million dollar contract, with a club option for 2010, not too shabby.

Sunday Stuff

Well, the Cavs just killed the Mavs on national TV, a few days after looking like shit on ESPN versus the Kings (and like crap in the OT vs the Bulls on TNT). It's a good win for them and a key part of the game was that Malone played James at point guard/forward during the 4th quarter.

Gooden and the Tractor got ejected at the end of the 3rd (Robert with reason, Gooden without) and it put a spark in the team (and forced Malones hand and made him play Varejao). The Cavs made the comeback to win it versus the Hornets with James at point, and they made a comeback (too late) vs the Kings with James at point. So what's this tell you, when the offense gets stagnant, play LeBron at point guard.

Terry Pluto has a great column today about the Cavs playing too loud of music at the Gund. I have a story about this myself. I went to a couple games last year and I took a survey at one and a phone survey after the second one. Both times I voiced my satisfaction with the game and team itself. But both times I complained about Moondog (their dumbass mascot) and the cheerleaders. I tried to get across a simple point: I go to Cavs games to watch basketball. That's why people go. To see LeBron and the Cavs win. It's really simple. Have you ever heard someone wax nostalgic about the Chicago Bulls cheerleaders from the 90s? I doubt it. Play all the hip music you want, it just makes the atmosphere seem even more lame, showcase the game, the players and the community. The more you try to create an aura with the 'Cavaliers experience' the more you are ruining the basketball fan experience. It's already expensive to go to the games, I want to enjoy it without hearing the newest single by Usher or Beyonce every 5 seconds.

Someone else finally rips on the Broncos

Len Pasquarelli finally chimes in.

Want a less than ringing endorsement? With all four linemen on their roster in 2004, the Browns won, yep, all of four games. Cleveland management might have fared better had it simply erected four speed bumps.
None of this dissuaded the Broncos from finding a way to bring all four to Denver

Yup, that about sums it up.